Mud and Beauty in the Cinque Terre

It was like a punch in the gut a week ago, (October 25, 2011) when I heard that the Cinque Terre had been devastated by flood waters and mud. I had been in those five towns in 2008. I photographed them with an intensity and passion that yielded a sort of intimate affection for the area. Take a look. The colorful beauty, the resourcefulness, the geometric, playful stacking… and the few people that I was able to talk to at the time, (due to my own language limitations) made me easily love the Cinque Terre.

In last week’s flooding, the towns of Vernazza – one of my favorites – and Monterosso were especially hard hit. An Italian friend wrote to me and said “Cinque Terre is destroyed. So sad.” I was speechless. As I looked at photos and videos online, I saw buildings I had photographed, places I had stood, things I knew. This made Vernazza’s flooding more personal.

In 2008, I stood in front of this meat and cheese shop and enjoyed the blue curtains against the russet-colored wall in Vernazza.

Watching newscasts of the flooding last week, the "Salumi e Formaggi" awning jumped out at me. The entire first floor throughout the town of Vernazza was filled with water and debris, and now remains filled with mud.

In 2008, I was tickled by the "faux painting" around the town of Monterosso, such as this painted brick pattern.

This image on news sites tugged at me: the building I had photographed, now deep in mud and debris. (Picture by Miriam Rossignoli (http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=523038047)

Vernazza's harbor, shot in 2008, features the local church, central piazza, places to eat, play, swim and sun.

Though this site is in Italian, the pictures tell the whole story. Move the central cursor line back and forth to see before-and-after images.

This video shows the rush of water and mud flowing through the center of Vernazza: